A decide excoriated a Colorado county clerk for her crimes and lies earlier than sentencing her Thursday to 9 years behind bars for a data-breach scheme spawned from the rampant false claims about voting machine fraud within the 2020 presidential race.
District Decide Matthew Barrett informed former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters — after earlier sparring together with her for persevering with to press discredited claims about rigged voting machines — that she by no means took her job severely.
“I’m satisfied you’ll do it over again for those who might. You’re as defiant as any defendant this court docket has ever seen,” Barrett informed her in handing down the sentence. “You might be no hero. You abused your place and also you’re a charlatan.”
Jurors found Peters guilty in August for permitting a person to misuse a safety card to entry to the Mesa County election system and for being misleading about that particular person’s id.
The person was affiliated with My Pillow chief government Mike Lindell, a outstanding promoter of false claims that voting machines were manipulated to steal the election from former President Donald Trump.
At trial, prosecutors stated Peters, a Republican, was searching for fame and have become “fixated” on voting issues after changing into concerned with those that had questioned the accuracy of the presidential election outcomes.
A one-time hero to election deniers, Peters has been unapologetic about what occurred.
Earlier than being sentenced, Peters insisted that every part she did to attempt to unroot what she believed was fraud was for the higher good.
“I’ve by no means performed something with malice to interrupt the legislation. I’ve solely wished to serve the individuals of Mesa County,” she informed the court docket.
When Peters tried to press on with claims no authorized authority has corroborated about “wi-fi gadgets” and software program that modified poll photographs in voting machines she drew the decide’s exasperation, who identified that poll recounts confirmed no discrepancies.
“I’ve allow you to go on sufficient about this,” Decide Barrett stated. “The votes are the votes.”
Later, the decide identified how Peters has saved up public appearances in broadcasts to sympathetic audiences for her personal profit.
“It’s simply extra lies. No goal particular person believes them. No, on the finish of the day, you cared concerning the jets, the podcasts and folks flying with you,” Barrett stated.
Peters had the precise to be defiant, he famous, nevertheless it was “actually not useful for her lot immediately.”
The breach led by Peters heightened considerations that rogue election staff sympathetic to partisan lies might use their entry and information to assault voting processes from inside.
Peters was convicted of three counts of trying to affect a public servant, one depend of conspiracy to commit prison impersonation, first-degree official misconduct, violation of responsibility and failing to adjust to the secretary of state.
She was discovered not responsible of id theft, one depend of conspiracy to commit prison impersonation and one depend of prison impersonation.
In a publish on the social media platform X after her conviction, Peters accused Colorado-based Dominion Voting Techniques, which made her county’s election system, in addition to attorneys for state election officers of stealing votes.
“I’ll proceed to battle till the Reality is revealed that was not allowed to be introduced throughout this trial. It is a unhappy day for our nation and the world. However we WILL win in the long run,” she stated.
Colorado Legal professional Basic Phil Weiser has referred to as her conviction a warning that tampering with voting processes will carry penalties.
